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Biggest Surprises of 2012

As always a great show, firstly my biggest thanks to "i_should_coco" for testing my valves I think it may have been more of a chore than was expected.

But for me to there were some real surprises - systems that sounded far far better than I ever imagined they would or could, so in no particular these really surprised me and brought a smile to my face. The:

Linn Kans being powered by low end Naim integrated

Behringer based set up

£74 second hand system using JBL speakers (wish some one would give me a pair like that for free)

Not saying these were the best sounding of the day but surely proved that great music can be reproduced in many different ways and need not take a lot of cash or space.

I too loved the nait and kans, just sounded so right and together. Also the big naim and neat set up again kept me listening the longest. Worrying really as they are probably the opposite of what I own. Gromits Royds as always sounded brilliant. Bob and Darrens Tannoys sounded great as did Deans snells.

Bmtell (Mark) had a great sounding room considering how little it had all set him back. I was room sitting for an hour or so and could have happily sat there all day.

Despite it looking pretty rough and ready loads of people commented to me that it was making much more musically satisfying sounds than some of the bigger, and vastly more expensive, set-ups. In particular the butt ugly B&W speakers, which only cost him a tenner, seemed to surprise nearly everyone with how nimble and fleet footed they sounded - definitely an ugly duckling that turned into a swan.

Massive thanks to all for giving us a great day out. Really enjoyed all that I heard and I heard an awful lot.
For my tastes it was a win for all of the home made speaker/active drivers/active crossovers brigade .......and Robin.
Congrats for all of the hard work and arranging. My thanks again to all.

Forgot to mention ....I really did miss papa L and jerry who were my favourites from last year.

Bmtell (Mark) had a great sounding room considering how little it had all set him back. I was room sitting for an hour or so and could have happily sat there all day.

Despite it looking pretty rough and ready loads of people commented to me that it was making much more musically satisfying sounds than some of the bigger, and vastly more expensive, set-ups. In particular the butt ugly B&W speakers, which only cost him a tenner, seemed to surprise nearly everyone with how nimble and fleet footed they sounded - definitely an ugly duckling that turned into a swan.

Just got back from my first visit to Scalford. The standout rooms for me were :
AdamK in Colman room. The Linn/Naim/Neat combo was the best sound of the day, IMO.
Also Baggawire's NS1000 and Canary valve amp was great
S-man's set up was also very involving.

Enjoyed myself enormously - many thanks to organisers and exhibitors.
Memorable rooms? Well, I enjoyed most, but I keep thinking of BobC's and Coco's & Speedysteve's and those extraordinary horns.
Till next year.
Plato

A VERY BIG THANK YOU to ALL exhibitors and organisers of this years show. 3 of us came up from Colchester for our first ' real ' hi-fi show, and thoroughly enjoyed all of it. WELL DONE CHAPS.
It was great to hear such a varied selection of components and systems.
Food was good and sensibly priced. A very friendly bunch of people as well.
Only damper was the traffic on the way home, horrendous.

Thanks To All

Neil, Richard and John's first visit to Scalford and probably not the last.

A really big thank you to all those enthusiasts involved in running and exhibiting at this show. Making all the effort to organise and carry and spend a whole weekend entertaining others with the show and with your systems makes everyone a winner.

Bmtell (Mark) had a great sounding room considering how little it had all set him back. I was room sitting for an hour or so and could have happily sat there all day.

Yep. I really liked that one too. +1 for the Kans and the NS1000M system as well - that was beautiful. The big Tannoy systems were all great, but that's hardly a surprise is it? Probably the most pleasant surprise for me was Beobloke's setup - old gear I thought I wouldn't like, in a room the width of a corridor, and I loved it.

The real shock for me was being repeatedly reminded just how much better a good turntable is than any digital source you can name.